U.S. patent application number 14/182120 was filed with the patent office on 2015-08-20 for optical lens assembly, array type lens module and method of making the array type lens module.
This patent application is currently assigned to GLOBAL MICROPTICS CO., LTD.. The applicant listed for this patent is GLOBAL MICROPTICS CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Tsung-Chieh CHANG.
Application Number | 20150234154 14/182120 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 53797984 |
Filed Date | 2015-08-20 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150234154 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
CHANG; Tsung-Chieh |
August 20, 2015 |
OPTICAL LENS ASSEMBLY, ARRAY TYPE LENS MODULE AND METHOD OF MAKING
THE ARRAY TYPE LENS MODULE
Abstract
An optical lens assembly includes a sensor array, a lens array,
and a shading element. The sensor array has a plurality of sensors
arranged as a matrix to convert optical signals into electrical
signals. The lens array has a plurality of lens units arranged as a
matrix. The lens array is provided on the sensor array, and the
lens units are aligned with the sensors to focus light onto the
sensors respectively. The lens units are made of a light curable
material or a thermosetting material, and separated from each other
to form a trench between each two of the neighboring lens units.
The shading element is received in the trenches of the lens array
to avoid light which goes into any one of the lens units from
entering into the other lens units.
Inventors: |
CHANG; Tsung-Chieh; (Tainan,
TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
GLOBAL MICROPTICS CO., LTD. |
Tainan |
|
TW |
|
|
Assignee: |
GLOBAL MICROPTICS CO., LTD.
Tainan
TW
|
Family ID: |
53797984 |
Appl. No.: |
14/182120 |
Filed: |
February 17, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
359/619 ;
250/578.1; 264/1.36 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G02B 3/0006 20130101;
B29C 43/18 20130101; G02B 3/0062 20130101; G02B 3/0068 20130101;
G02B 13/0085 20130101; G02B 3/0037 20130101; B29D 11/00298
20130101; B29K 2063/00 20130101; B29D 11/00317 20130101; G02B
3/0012 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G02B 13/00 20060101
G02B013/00; B29C 43/18 20060101 B29C043/18; B29D 11/00 20060101
B29D011/00; G02B 3/00 20060101 G02B003/00 |
Claims
1. A method of making an array type lens module, comprising the
steps of: A. forming a lens member, wherein the lens member is made
of a light curable material or a thermosetting material, and has a
plurality of lens units; B. removing portions of the lens member
between the lens units to form trenches between the lens units; and
C. providing a shading element in the trenches to avoid light which
goes into any one of the lens units from entering into the other
lens units.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing the shading
element in the trenches includes filling the trenches with a molten
shading material, and solidifying the molten shading material.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the shading material is made of a
light curable material, and the shading material is exposed to
light with a specific intensity for a certain time for
solidification.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing the shading
member in the trenches includes fixing a solidified shading member
in the trenches.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step D of cutting
the lens member along with the shading element to obtain a
plurality of the array type lens modules.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the lens units in each array type
lens module are arranged as a matrix, and a sum of columns and rows
of the matrix is equal to or greater than three.
7. An array type lens module, comprising: a lens array having a
plurality of lens units to change an optical character of light
going therethrough, wherein the lens units are arranged as a
matrix, and separated from each other to form a trench between each
two of the neighboring lens units; and a shading element received
in the trenches of the lens array to avoid light which goes into
any one of the lens units from entering into the other lens
units.
8. The array type lens module of claim 7, wherein the shading
element is attached to sidewalls of the trenches.
9. The array type lens module of claim 8, wherein the shading
element covers an outer lateral side of the lens array.
10. The array type lens module of claim 7, wherein the shading
element is made of a light curable material or a thermosetting
material.
11. The array type lens module of claim 7, wherein a sum of columns
and rows of the matrix is equal to or greater than three.
12. An optical lens assembly, comprising: a sensor array having a
plurality of sensors arranged as a matrix to convert optical
signals into electrical signals; a lens array having a plurality of
lens units arranged as a matrix, wherein the lens array is provided
on the sensor array, and the lens units are aligned with the
sensors to focus light onto the sensors respectively; the lens
units are made of a light curable material or a thermosetting
material, and separated from each other to form a trench between
each two of the neighboring lens units; and a shading element
received in the trenches of the lens array to avoid light which
goes into any one of the lens units from entering into the other
lens units.
13. The optical lens assembly of claim 12, wherein a sum of columns
and rows of the matrix is equal to or greater than three.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Technical Field
[0002] The present invention relates generally to an optical
device, and more particularly to an optical lens assembly, an array
type lens module, and a method of making the array type lens
module.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] In recent days, more and more image pick-up apparatus, such
as digital camera and cell phone, are equipped with an image
capture device, such as charge coupled device (CCD) or
complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), and theses image
pick-up apparatus are made as smaller as possible so that the image
capture devices are asked as smaller as possible as well.
[0005] FIG. 1 shows a conventional miniature lens assembly 2,
including a sensor array 600 and a lens array 700 on the sensor
array 600. The sensor array 600 has a plurality of sensors 610
arranged as a matrix, and the lens array 700 has a plurality of
lens unit 750 arranged as a matrix and aligned with the sensors 610
respectively. Light is focused on the sensors 610 through the lens
modules 750 respectively, so that each sensor 610 may get a
temporary image.
[0006] With a specific imaging software, it may combine the
temporary images from the sensors 610 to obtain a high quality
final image. In such miniature lens assembly 2, the sensors 610 of
the sensor array 600 with low pixel may obtain the high quality
image, and therefore each lens unit 750 only needs a few lenses,
which is helpful to narrow the size of the lens assembly.
[0007] A conventional way of making the lenses 710 of the lens
array 700 is to pour the molten epoxy on a glass substrate 711, and
then press it with a mold to form a first lens layer 712 on a side
of the glass substrate 711, and then turn over the glass substrate
711, and do the same procedures again to form a second lens layer
713 on the other side of the glass substrate 711. The first lens
layer 712, the glass substrate 711, and the second lens layer 713
form the lenses 710. FIG. 1 shows there are two sets of lenses 710,
720, and the lens 720 is made by the same method. While light is
entering the lens unit 750, some oblique beams may enter the other
lens unit 750 through the lens layers or the glass substrates that
interferes with the imaging of the sensors 610 of the sensor array
600, and lead to lowering of the quality of the final image.
Besides, the glass substrates in the lenses 710, 720 still take
some spaces, which is not helpful to reducing the thickness of the
lens assembly.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] In view of the above, the primary objective of the present
invention is to provide an optical lens assembly, an array type
lens module, and a method of making the array type lens module,
which may reduce the thickness and avoid the light interference
problem.
[0009] The present invention provides an optical lens assembly,
including a sensor array, a lens array, and a shading element. The
sensor array has a plurality of sensors arranged as a matrix to
convert optical signals into electrical signals. The lens array has
a plurality of lens units arranged as a matrix. The lens array is
provided on the sensor array, and the lens units are aligned with
the sensors to focus light onto the sensors respectively. The lens
units are made of a light curable material or a thermosetting
material, and separated from each other to form a trench between
each two of the neighboring lens units. The shading element is
received in the trenches of the lens array to avoid light which
goes into any one of the lens units from entering into the other
lens units.
[0010] The present invention further provides an array type lens
module, including a lens array and a shading element. The lens
array has a plurality of lens units to change an optical character
of light going therethrough, wherein the lens units are arranged as
a matrix, and separated from each other to form a trench between
each two of the neighboring lens units. The shading element is
received in the trenches of the lens array to avoid light which
goes into any one of the lens units from entering into the other
lens units.
[0011] The present invention further provides a method of making an
array type lens module, comprising the following steps:
[0012] A. Form a lens member, wherein the lens member is made of a
light curable material or a thermosetting material, and has a
plurality of lens units;
[0013] B. Remove portions of the lens member between the lens units
to form trenches between the lens units; and
[0014] C. Provide a shading element in the trenches to avoid light
which goes into any one of the lens units from entering into the
other lens units.
[0015] In an embodiment, the method further includes the step of
cutting the lens member along with the shading element to obtain a
plurality of the array type lens modules.
[0016] With the aforementioned design, it could make the optical
lens assembly thinner, and eliminate the light interference
problem.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] The present invention will be best understood by referring
to the following detailed description of some illustrative
embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in
which
[0018] FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the conventional optical lens
assembly;
[0019] FIGS. from FIG. 2 to FIG. 6 are sectional views, showing the
procedures of making the array type lens module of a preferred
embodiment of the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the optical lens assembly of
the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and
[0021] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the optical lens assembly of
the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0022] As shown in FIGS. from FIG. 2 to FIG. 6, a method of making
an array type lens module is described hereunder. As shown in FIG.
2, a lens member 100 is molded on a substrate 500. The lens member
100 is made of UV curing epoxy, and the UV curing epoxy is pressed
by a mold (not shown) and exposed under an UV light for curing to
form the lens member 100. In practice, any light curable material
or thermosetting material may be used to form the lens member
100.
[0023] As shown in FIG. 3, removes specific portions of the lens
member 100 to obtain a plurality of lens units 110. The lens units
110 are separated from each other and arranged as a matrix. Each
lens unit 110 changes optical characters of light which goes
therethrough. The removing portions are between the lens units 110
to form a plurality of trenches 150. In an embodiment, this step is
performed in a milling machine, and etching, grinding, and other
equivalent processes may be involved in this step.
[0024] As shown in FIG. 4, the trenches 150 of the lens member 100
are filled with a molten shading material 200. The shading member
150 is blackout, and is made of a UV curing material. The molten
shading material 200 is slightly over-filled to sink a top of the
lens member 100, but still lets a portion of each lens unit 110 be
exposed. Next, the shading material 200 is exposed under UV light
for curing to form a shading member 210 (FIG. 5). In practice, any
light curable material or thermosetting material may be used to
form the shading member 210. In another embodiment, the shading
member 210 is a solidified member fixed in the trenches 150 by
adhesive, or squeezing it in the trenches 150.
[0025] The lens member 100 is cut along with a specific portion of
the shading member 210 to obtain a plurality of array type lens
modules 10 with a shading element 220. Each array type lens module
10 has a predetermined number of the lens units 110 arranged as a
matrix and the shading members 210 between the neighboring lens
units 110. The lens units 110 form a lens array 120, and a sum of
columns and rows of the lens units 110 is equal to or greater than
3. In an embodiment, the array type lens module 10 has a 3.times.3
lens array 120, and each lens unit 110 has two lenses. In another
embodiment, the lens array 120 may be 1.times.3, 4.times.4,
5.times.5, 4.times.3, 16.times.9, and so on, and the lens unit 110
may have a lens, three lenses, or more than three lenses. This
cutting step may be omitted if the lens array 120 of the lens
member 100 just satisfies the array type lens module 10.
[0026] As shown in FIG. 7, the array type lens module 10 is mounted
on a sensor array 30. In an embodiment, the sensor array 20 has a
glass substrate 300 on a top thereof for protection, and the array
type lens module 10 is mounted on the glass substrate 300. After a
packaging process, it will get an optical lens assembly 1 as shown
in FIG. 8. In an embodiment, the sensor array 20 has nine sensors
22 in a 3.times.3 matrix, and each sensor 22 converts optical
signals into electrical signal. The sensors 22 are right under the
lens units 110 of the lens array 120 respectively, so that light
may be focused on each sensor 22 through the corresponding lens
unit 110. The shading element 220 between the lens units 110 may
block the light which goes into one lens unit 110 from entering
into to the other lens units 110 to avoid the light interference
problem. Furthermore, without the glass substrate in the lens array
120, the optical lens assembly 1 will be thinner.
[0027] It is noted that it may coat the shading material 200 on a
lateral wall of each lens unit 110 or provide other shading members
in the trenches 150 to form the shading element 220. With the
embodiment as described above, the shading element 220 covers an
outer lateral side and a top (except the lens units 110) of the
array type lens module 10. So, the array type lens module 10 is an
integrated block with the lens units 110 as a matrix layout on a
top thereof.
[0028] In an embodiment, the array type lens module 10 is directly
attached to the sensor array 20, which means there will be no glass
substrate in the optical lens assembly. The array type lens module
10 replaces the glass substrate 300 to be a protection of the
sensor array 20.
[0029] It must be pointed out that the embodiments described above
are only some preferred embodiments of the present invention. All
equivalent structures and methods which employ the concepts
disclosed in this specification and the appended claims should fall
within the scope of the present invention.
* * * * *